Saturday, September 27, 2014

We have been in India for almost 3 weeks now, but it seems like we have been here for months. There is so much to tell. So much we are taking in. So many people we are getting to know and getting to re-know.

There is the woman on the beach who is so full of joy in the Lord. We go to encourage her with the Word of God that she desperately wants to here, but come out more encouraged by her faith and hope in the Lord despite the hardships she faces. She is known as Hope. How I've missed her laugh and smile.

There are the children in the slums who have grown a little taller and a little chubbier, but still have the same hearts that are full of life and child-like faith. As they have grown, they have been a little more self-conscious/shy, as all junior high/high school aged students are, but they have also grown in the understanding of the Gospel that we pray they come to full faith in. And the talking and laughter they do, never ends.

There are the leaders who do so much for their communities. They invest in these people day in and day out without much rest and without much resources. But despite the things they lack, they live out how they have everything they need. And we are always amazed by how God uses what little they have to plant seeds into the hearts of the people here.

It seems this trip is all about building relationships. I feel like my last trip to Goa was only a taste of India and all the complexities that it holds. Though I knew the darkness is here in India, and so many people are trapped in it, I see it more now as we are spending more time with so many different people. It seems we cannot escape it.

There are children being abused and their family and community just turn a blind eye. Women being beaten by their husbands. Boys who walk miles and miles to leave pooja for their gods hoping God hears them so their father will get a job. Women who think the only worth or ability they have is to pick up trash or offer their bodies for their gods. People doing empty rituals over and over again. Girls who are told theycan't by themselves or their families. So many lost yet hear the truth of Jesus everyday.

Sometimes the darkness seems too much bear. It so often makes me feel just...heavy. What good are we really doing here when there is so much darkness? But then I am reminded...

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

"I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness."

"Because of the tender mercy of our God...the sunrise shall visit us from high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Jesus is the light, the hope that we have. There is a reason all these are being revealed to us. For the Lord is exposing them with His light. The light He has given us. He says to us, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill that cannot be hidden...let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to God."

And thankfully, the Lord has already saved so many that were once trapped in darkness. That these lights will continue to shine onto these people in hope that they will no longer need to remain in that darkness.

How to pray:

For the people who are in darkness and following the empty rituals of Hinduism

For the believers and staff here who need encouragement

For the people we minister to that have just started hearing the Gospel or have been hearing it since being in all our programs

For us --that we would be encouraged and gain our strength from the Lord to do this work. I have been struggling with feeling inadequate in the work I am doing and Caleb has been struggling with finding his place in the ministry here. We have also been very tired and it makes it hard to be present when we are out in ministry.